The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Leitch calls for favour from friend to lift Buchan fortunes
Peterhead midfielder Jack Leitch is hoping for a favour from a former teammate to help seal their promotion to League 1.
The Blue Toon need to beat Edinburgh City today and hope leaders Montrose slip up against Elgin City, who should have Leitch’s ex-Motherwell colleague Brett Long in goal.
The odds are against Peterhead snatching the title from the Gable Endies, with Montrose holding a three-point advantage and playing at home, but Leitch is hoping the Buchan men get the job done and then get a little help from elsewhere.
Leitch said: “I said to him last week that I hope he has the game of his life, so hopefully he takes it on board. Elgin have got players like Thomas Reilly and Shane Sutherland who can cause Montrose problems.
“We’ve got to be professional, do our job and see what happens. If we don’t play to the standards we have been playing to and winning games, then we won’t be in with a chance.”
The lead has flitted between the two sides this campaign and the destination of the title is still not settled. The SPFL has chartered helicopters to deliver the trophies to the League 1 and League 2 victors, such is the uncertainty.
If Peterhead miss out on automatic promotion then it is the play-offs again for the Balmoor men. They dropped out of League 1 in that format last season, while Leitch, then at Airdrie, suffered heartbreak at the other end.
He said: “We were playing Alloa in the semi-finals and beat them 1-0 at home. They beat us 1-0 in the second leg and it went to extra time. We took a good support there and I managed to score my penalty in the shoot-out. It was a great game to play in but it was just disappointing not to come out on the winning side. You can be the best team in the play-offs and still not win.”
Alloa went on to lose their next penalty shootout in the play-off final against Brechin City, which sealed the latter’s promotion to the Championship. Meanwhile, Peterhead were thumped 5-1 at home by Forfar Athletic. “At the start of the season I was out of the team and then I was in and out. I was becoming a bit disheartened by it.
“It’s not as if I didn’t want to be there but behind the scenes I was a nightmare. Gavin held me to the side and told me it could not continue.
“I went to left-back, where I had played before, and Gavin has kept me there. It has been brilliant, I feel I have developed and learned and I feel very comfortable there. I reckon that’s going to be me at left back now.
“I don’t know what my options are yet and I know the club wants to secure players for next season, but I need to look at my future.”
Montrose need only a point to secure the League 2 title but Elgin boss Price said: “It’s important for us to end the season on a high. Inconsistency is probably the key word to describe it. We have played some really good stuff but our away form has been disappointing.”
“You can be best team in play-offs and still not win”